May 2009
Volume 74, Number 4

Baker, R. A. Jr., (2009). Continuing the conversation. Louisiana Musician, [online].

There have been many exciting events in recent months.  In this online issue of the Louisiana Musician, I am reporting on the Arts Education Partnership Forum and a study of NCLB effects on students’ access to arts education. There are links to Wynton Marsalis’s recent performance and the U. S. Congressional Hearing on the arts’ benefit to the economy. Local reports suggest that music education is being recognized as a valued essential in these communities. How do we ensure that all students have access to a quality music education program?

In February, the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) held a forum in New Orleans.  It is a national coalition of arts, education, business, government and philanthropy that demonstrates and promotes the essential role arts play in the development of every child and in the effectiveness of America's schools. AEP was founded and is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the U. S. Department of Education (USDOE) in cooperation with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA).  The forum assembled 202 people representing arts education, national agencies, state agencies, universities, and cultural organizations from around the country. There were 50 educators, teaching artists, and cultural consultants with an interest in Louisiana arts education.

Lieutenant Governor Landrieu, in the opening session, addressed preparing the competent 21st century workforce through arts education. The next session, moderated by Gene Wilhoit, Executive Director of CCSSO, consisted of a panel of the lieutenant governors of Oklahoma and Wisconsin and the Commissioner of Education for Maine. Lieutenant Governor Lawton of Wisconsin said, “Arts are core curriculum” and that Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) should include the arts to make it STEAM.  Her point was that without the creative contribution of an arts education, it would be difficult to be innovative. She emphasized that the new essentials for an effective economy are imagination, creativity, and innovation.  Maine’s Commissioner Gendron consistently repeated that all education was going to have to be “done differently.”

At the end of the February, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) released a study conducted relative to students’ access to arts education.   Congress directed them to examine the effect of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) on:

(1) how the amount of instructional time for arts education has changed and, if so, whether certain groups have been affected more than others;

(2) to what extent state education agencies’ requirements and funding for arts education have changed since NCLB;

(3) what school officials in selected districts are doing to provide arts education since NCLB and what challenges they face in doing so; and

(4) what is known about the effect of arts education in improving student outcomes.

The study examined data between the 2004-2005 and 2006-2007 school sessions. All of the data examined was post-NCLB. The GAO reported that the amount of instructional time has changed little for arts education. One significant difference was that a higher percentage of teachers reported instructional time for reading/language arts and mathematics had increased.  There was no evidence reported that school days had been lengthened, meaning that instructional time for other subjects, including the arts, must have been shortened.  Additionally, schools whose students were either a majority of low-income, racial or ethnic minorities, limited English proficient or schools identified as needing improvement were significantly more likely to report a decrease in instructional time for the arts.

Wynton Marsalis delivered the 22nd Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy to a capacity crowd in the Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  Mr. Marsalis's lecture, entitled The Ballad of American Arts, focused on the importance of arts and culture to the American identity and featured special performances throughout by members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

The House Education and Labor Committee held a series of hearings this spring to examine the benefit of the arts to the nation’s economy and schools and what can be done to improve support for the arts and music fields. Video of this hearing is available online.

Tangipahoa Parish School System now has 13 elementary music educators, teaching at 18 elementary schools, reaching over 9,300 students! At a March meeting, the Tangipahoa Parish School Board announced that Kentwood High School would become a performing arts high school. Gina Anthon, DMA, Southeastern Louisiana University Laboratory School, reported that there would be arts and music programs in every school.

St. Charles Parish hosted their first Arts Festival this March.  It was organized similar to the multiple stages at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, i.e., continuous performances on multiple stages.  There were 300 visitors from the community who attended.

One question we must be prepared to answer is that in the day of music entertainment, “Why must educational music be taught?” Or as I wrote in the February edition, Why arts education? Why now? What if?  Video games such as “Wii Music” and “Guitar Hero” are very familiar to our students. At the end of April, there were fifty-eight music applications for the iPhone. Some allow people to simulate playing different instruments; some turn the phone into a music stand.

As we begin this year’s close-out, one way we can help administrators to answer some of these questions is to prepare an end-of-the-year report on your students’ accomplishments this year. In addition to the quantitative data on the number of performances, the size of the audiences, and the number of new pieces of music mastered, include such qualitative data taken from your students’ reflections on what their music experiences meant to them. If you are a high school teacher, list any performance scholarships to college that your students have been offered. Please remember, there are always public relations taking place. You can make sure that the information going forth from your program is accurate, affirming, and supportive.

Have a summer that is professionally and personally renewing. You have labored hard and must give yourself this short “sabbatical.”